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Found: Another Carbon Balance Bike – This One’s Affordable, Sort Of

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Zelvy Balance Bike Disc Brake (3)

After we posted the Petitpierre Carbon running bike, Zelvy Carbon got in touch with us to show off their own carbon balance bike. Hand made in Australia, there is even a hydraulic disc brake Mk2 option that will be easier for a small child to squeeze – that, and it is a carbon bike after all. Zelvy has been making the bikes for a few years now, including a number of other carbon products including frame guards, number plate holders, and even carbon frame repair.

More on the Zelvy Carbon Balance bike next.

Zelvy Balance Bike Disc Brake (2)

Originally created for his son’s second birthday, the beautiful Zelvy balance bike will certainly be the envy of the other kids in the neighborhood. Even better is that at $600 AUD, or $555 USD it is surprisingly affordable. If you consider 5 times the price of a Strider affordable. Compared with the $2000 price tag of the PetitPierre though, it’s a bargain. Using an Eclat pivitol seat and seat post allows for a very low saddle height, and the smaller size of the BMX saddle should work well with small kids.

Zelvy Balance Bike Disc Brake (1)

Built with carbon post mount rear discs, the custom rotor barely fits on the 12 inch wheel.

Zelvy-balance-01-1

The first Zelvy balance bikes had rim brakes and a different frame design to accommodate them.

ChainGuide-01

In addition to their frame repairs and carbon frame guards for Giant, Yeti, Trek, Zerode, Transition and more, Zelvy also has a few projects like this Shell guide listed on their website. By wrapping a carbon/Kevlar shell around the chainring, the result is hopefully the lightest, simplest, effective chain guide available. Due to the nature of the guard it only fits one chain ring size and will possibly be sold in 3 packs to fit 34, 36, and 38t chainrings.

 

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17 Comments
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Big Cow
10 years ago

i wish it had internal routing. also, that seatstay looks really weak

Jared
Jared
10 years ago

Thanks Big Cow for getting obligatory lame comment out of the way. That thing is awesome.

Champs
Champs
10 years ago

12″ wheels are old news. Surely there’s an old, unpopular French standard to revive instead, maybe 300Q?

pmurf
pmurf
10 years ago

That stay is massive! I mean, it tapers a lot at the dropout, but it’s not like it’s undergoing lots of weight or braking forces. Probably has a weight limit…Anyway, props to Zelvy for building a $600 carbon anything.

twhet
twhet
10 years ago

It’s all fun and games until some kid cuts their finger off in the disc rotor.

Greg
Greg
10 years ago

I hope they chamfered the heck out of that rotor.. Bolting what amounts to a circular saw blade to something intended for a two year old strikes me as seriously bad parenting.. And I’ve done some bad parenting in my time!

JMG DC
JMG DC
10 years ago

Ugh, really? If the kid can go fast enough to need a handbrake, then the kid should be on a real bike. Strider Balance Bike, $109 at Amazon. Come on, people.

Velo Zephyr
10 years ago

I love the Pinarello styling on the headtube.

Milessio
Milessio
10 years ago

Velo Zephyr – it’s where the cable should exit the frame!
With radial spokes for the front wheel, why doesn’t it have disc/ disc cover at the back?

RCSpeed
RCSpeed
10 years ago

Could some one find where I put my “Fonz” jacket and a ski boat because the industry has officially jumped the shark.
A carbon kiddie pusher? really?
There will be a “Fred” out there who will get this for his kid and keep these guys in business for another idea there was never a need for. Instead he should take JMG DC’s advice and spend the rest on a new set of wheels for himself.
(Little freddie wont know that you jipped him of that 1W perfromance advanage at the park)

Disc Rotor+2 yr old= trip to the ER.

finnrider
finnrider
10 years ago

As soon as I get one I am putting on saint brakes with the icetech rotors and chris king hubs

pmurf
pmurf
10 years ago

@finnrider how about a Kettle Cycles SICCC 140 rotor – very small chamfered holes wont cut junior’s fingers off and its even MORE CARBON!!!

Chuck
Chuck
10 years ago

Little fingers will disappear it that brake rotor… :[

Kid fingers
Kid fingers
10 years ago

Recommend finding a solid rotor, kids fingers are in danger with standard rotors…

FinnRider
FinnRider
10 years ago

@pmurf and carbon wont heat up and burn his fingers. Good Call

Zelvy
10 years ago

Haha, haters gotta hate!
We have a new bike out soon. We also use Hydraulic rim brakes now for the 12″ bike.
We did experiment with cable brakes, but the main reason for the hydraulics is little kids hand strength and reach. A hydraulic lets you run the lever right in and still have plenty of bite.
You can hassle me all you want at sales@zelvycarbon.com

anthony
anthony
8 years ago

where can I purchase this Zelvy Carbon Balance bike from???

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